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Third-year law student Gerald Ung arrested and charged with aggravated assault in the shooting of Ed DiDonato, caught on Fox29 surveillance camera.

Gerald Ung, 28, a law student at Temple University, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, attempted homicide and violations of the uniform firearms act, in the shooting of Edward DiDonato, 23. The incident occurred outside the offices of Fox29 and was captured on the station's surveillance camera, in the 3300 block of Market Street, in Philadelphia, Pa., at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

According to media reports, DiDonato, of Blue Bell, is a LaSalle High School graduate who captained the Villanova lacrosse team before graduating last May. Police said the victim was shot several times in the chest and abdomen. The police said the shooting stemmed from an argument that broke out on the street between Ung, a third-year law student, and a group of pedestrian.

It should be noted that Ung, according to Fox29, has a firearms permit issued to him from Virginia. The story coming from the fuzzy surveillance tape shows a man "being rushed" by a group and then pulling a gun, before the victim confronts the gunman, and the two tumble to the sidewalk, but the police sources told Fox29 that the argument started at a scaffolding next to Fox 29 where the shooting victim was bumped while doing chin ups at 2:30 a.m.

Friends of Gerald Ung, the Temple University law student charged with shooting a Villanova University graduate six times in Old City last weekend, said yesterday that he is friendly, smart, and the opposite of a troublemaker.

"Gerald is not a gun-happy, overstressed law student waiting to go postal," one friend, Ernest Apaga, said in an e-mail. "He is extraordinarily gregarious and dynamic, and there is no doubt in my mind that his friends and professors at Temple are scurrying to figure out how to get him the proper legal counseling and funding he'll need."

The man who was shot, Eddie DiDonato Jr., 23, of Blue Bell, remained in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where yesterday he underwent his fourth operation since being shot in a hand, the chest, and the abdomen. DiDonato, a former captain of Villanova's lacrosse team, is a nephew of city Republican leader Michael Meehan's and the son of Center City lawyer Edward J. DiDonato.

Ung, 28, of West Philadelphia, is charged with attempted murder and related counts.

Two Facebook groups have been created by friends of each man: "Gerald Ung Is Innocent" and "Support Eddie DiDonato on His Road to Recovery."

Gina Furia Rubel, who owns a public-relations firm and as a DiDonato family friend is acting as a spokeswoman, said DiDonato's parents had been reading him messages of support left on the Facebook site.

According to Rubel, DiDonato prevented two of his friends from being shot by stepping in front of Ung's gun. DiDonato's parents consider their son a hero, Rubel said.

Several of Ung's friends said yesterday that they believed Ung had fired in self-defense. Ung carried a gun for protection and was not easily provoked, they said.

Police have said DiDonato and friends were walking to get a cab at Fourth and Market Streets about 2:30 a.m. Sunday after a night at the area's bars and restaurants when they got into a scuffle with people who were with Ung.

A surveillance camera outside Fox29 studios recorded the confrontation. The fuzzy footage, at www.myfoxphilly.com, shows an altercation on Market. DiDonato can be seen rushing at Ung, who then appears to pull out a gun and fire. The men then fall to the sidewalk.

Ung, who came from Virginia to attend Temple, was arrested at the scene and did not try to flee, police said. Apaga, a friend of Ung's since childhood, said Ung had called police after the shooting.

Ten percent of his $200,000 bail was posted Monday, apparently by his mother.

The tail end looks like a good shoot, you've got disparity of force, but really would like to know what started it before making a final judgement.

As long as Ung wasn't drinking, looking for trouble, he should be in the right. Which is nice, but you can be in the right and still end up in jail. What scares me is the shootee sounds like he's related to the political establishment. The media is hyping the guy that got shot "he stepped in front of the gun", captain of the lacrosse team, etc, like he's some sort of hero.

He's lucky it was caught on video, that's something to go on rather than the shootee's buddies' testimony.

If the video shows the guy being rushed and then shooting in self defense, why is he sitting in jail? If that is the case it sounds like it's gonna cost him for a good defense attorney but he should be ok. He has a right to protect his life.

If the video shows the guy being rushed and then shooting in self defense, why is he sitting in jail? If that is the case it sounds like it's gonna cost him for a good defense attorney but he should be ok. He has a right to protect his life.

Gerald Ung, 28, a law student... was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, attempted homicide and violations of the uniform firearms act, in the shooting of Edward DiDonato, 23. The incident occurred... in Philadelphia, at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

... but the police sources told Fox29 that the argument started at a scaffolding... where the... victim was bumped while doing chin ups at 2:30 a.m.

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A lot of lessons in this short story.

At 02:30 Sunday morning (Saturday night into Sunday morning)... I guess a gun does trump beer muscles, but at what cost?

Then there's the question of mixing alcohol and gun. Was the shooter given a breathalizer after the shooting? If he was sober, a breathalizer would be in his favor.

If the video shows the guy being rushed and then shooting in self defense, why is he sitting in jail? If that is the case it sounds like it's gonna cost him for a good defense attorney but he should be ok. He has a right to protect his life.

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The guy who rushed Ung is 5' 10" and 190 lbs according to his college team information. He was lucky he is a husky man. I think the case could go either way. The video could be interpreted either way.

The shooter was walking backwards while the other 3 (mostly the victim) were still posturing and following him. Im not the smartest guy, but when you take a swing at a guy pointing a gun at you, you're probably gonna get shot. I dont think I would of drawn in that situation, but still.

This situation looks like it has a couple of lessons for us. First of all, stupid games have stupid prizes, and drinking until the bars close at 2:30 in the morning is a stupid game. Second, this situation points out the necessity of having more than one response available--something like pepper spray or a taser. Again, to repeat my first point, the best way to have handled this situation would have been to go home before the bars closed.

Again, to repeat my first point, the best way to have handled this situation would have been to go home before the bars closed.

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I mean no offense, but I take issue with responses like this. The fact of the matter is that "the situation" is exactly what panned out. At the time of the shooting there was no option to go back in time and head out of the bar before 230am. Therefore leaving the bar before 230am isn't a solution to this situation at all. It's like saying the solution to our wars abroad (currently) is to make 9/11 not happen at all. Fact of the matter is that it happened, so we have to take the situation for what it is. Following your solution we learn nothing and take away nothing from a situation that has a wealth of information to be had.

That aside: should he have been out at 230am? Who knows? It's very possible that he has been out at those hours before, and perceived no threat like he encountered. There wasn't a shooting because it was 230am; there was a shooting because Mr. Ung registered a threat to his well-being. His response would have been the same at any time of day. If alcohol was involved, then we could just as easily say that the "victim" shouldn't have been drinking at all, and this wouldn't have happened.

Second, this situation points out the necessity of having more than one response available--something like pepper spray or a taser.

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Very true. No matter your other point(s), you're dead on here. I need to make this investment myself. Could save me tens of thousands in court costs.

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